"She hasn't shown up yet, has she?" Blood whispered as he swung at Julius with his cane. Julius dodged his swing and leapt at him, his wrench changing into a gun, Blood raised his cane just in time to push his arms up high in the air and block him.
"No, and to be honest, it's very unnerving. She should be here by now!" the Mortician grunted and pushed Blood away, hitting him in the face with his own cane.
The Hatter laughed slightly, though it held no humor, as he wiped away at the blood that was flowing from his cut lip. "I have to admit; you're certainly a better fighter than I first thought. Too bad you weren't as much of a challenge when I attacked you in the tower."
"That's because," Julius grunted as he blocked Blood, "I make sure to always have the element of surprise on my side. My surprise at the time was Ace."
"Then what's your surprise this time, Clockmaker?" Blood said as he pushed at Julius. The Mortician ground his teeth as the stronger man pushed him back, his feet scraping the gravel beneath them.
"Something along the lines of this!" Julius snarled and wrapped a foot behind Blood's leg and pulled it out from under him.
Blood hit the ground with a loud thud and laughed to himself before retrieving his cane and standing. "Why don't we make a bet?" Julius raised an eyebrow in question. "If Micrurus doesn't show up in five minutes, you get to clean the Hatter Mansion."
"Fine, but if she does show up in five minutes, you clean the Clock Tower, top to bottom, inside and out." Julius said.
"Deal," Blood said, smirking to himself then transformed his cane into his machine gun and aimed it at Julius. Before either of them could pull their triggers, the sky suddenly darkened and began turning red and Blood muttered a four lettered curse.
"Looks like you lose!" Julius smirked and began running away. "I'll make sure to have the cleaning supplies ready for you when you arrive at the tower!"
Peter and Julius were gasping for breath when they finally arrived at the room that held the door. "Alright," Julius said after he composed himself and stood straight, "Now get back to Heart Castle before Micrurus arrives."
The still panting rabbit looked up at Julius and then straightened, "Tell Alice that I love her." Julius merely nodded his head and opened the door. He took a deep breath to steady himself before he walked in, the door swinging shut behind him.
"Nightmare Gottschalk, Julius Monrey, get over here, now!" The giant snake said in roaring hiss. Nightmare stepped up to the snake, his footsteps echoing in the deafening silence, Gray close beside him.
"Where is Julius?" the snake hissed.
"Do you really think we would bring our most valuable man to the center of the action? He is being safely guarded by the Castle of Hearts; the new neutral territory." Nightmare said, the same way Julius had told him to.
"What do you think you are doing then?"
"We are tired of being pushed around by the mafia, so we joined forces with the Amusement Park and convinced Julius to help us fight the mafia." He said and shrugged it off as if it was no big deal, though on the inside he was shaking and nervous to no end.
"Remain here," the snake hissed and suddenly disappeared.
Micrurus appeared in the Castle of Hearts in her human form, ordering the queen to allow her to see Julius.
"We do not know where the Clockmaker is." Vivaldi said to the woman in front of her, waving her hand dismissively. "Nightmare insisted that we not know. So instead, I chose my best guards and Nightmare chose where he would hide and be guarded." Vivaldi heaved a sigh and rested her chin on her fist. "If you wish to know, speak with the incubus."
Micrurus gave a loud scream of anger and stopped her foot before promptly disappearing again.
Pierce took a deep breath to stead himself. Now was not the time for fear or regrets. He had made a promise to help, and this is what he had agreed to. His green eyes took in the street below him as he gripped his knife tighter. Suddenly, Micrurus appeared, looking more furious than ever. The snake hissed and raised its giant head to glare down at Nightmare. "You lied to me!" It hissed
Nightmare raised his hands in innocence, the signal to be ready, and said, "I told you he was being guarded by the Castle of Hearts, not that he was there!" Pierce moved closer to the window, and closer to the snake. Across the street, Gray stood at the ready in the window of a dress shop, as soon as he saw the mouse; he nodded his head and gripped his knifes tighter. "Julius simply is not here!" Nightmare said and balled his hands into fists and resting them on his hips.
Pierce and Gray pushed off the windowsill at the same time, Pierce released a scream of panic and fear as he and the former assassin landed on Micrurus's head, both stabbing their knives into the thick scales, blood spattering on to their faces and arms. The Snake Witch released a scream of pain and thrashed her head about, attempting to throw them off. "Hold on tight!" Gray yelled over the pained screams as the others fled for safety.
"I can't," Pierce yelled back before he suddenly lost his grip on the knife and went flying, Gray following shortly behind him. Pierce groaned and sat up. "Do you still have your knives?" he asked the lizard. Gray nodded his head. "Good, then I suggest you hurry and get the others so we can finish this!" He said and leapt to his feet before taking off.
"Where are you going?" Gray shouted as he stood.
"Snakes eat mice right? So I'm going to tempt her with a snack!" He shouted over his shoulder. "Don't keep me waiting; she's bound to be hungry!" Pierce ran up to the snake before it could attack a group of faceless and began waving his arms frantically. "Hey, over here you big reptile, look down here!" The snake hissed and turned her head to face the Sleepy Mouse. "Yeah that's right, I'm talking to you!" He said and pointed at the snake's snout as she lowered her enormous head. "You know what?" Pierce placed his hands on his hips and widened his stance. "I'm sick and tired of being the cry baby! I also hate being pushed around by big bullies like you!"
"Pathetic mouse," the snake hissed, "You can do nothing! You are alone and a coward!"
"I may be alone, but I've got friends, friends like Alice! And no one hurts my friends, you stay away from her you big bully!" Pierce screamed and kicked the snake's snout.
"How dare you, you cowardly rodent!" Micrurus hissed.
"If you want to do something about it, then come and get me!" Pierce shouted and ran away. As the snake chased after him, Pierce realized all too late what kind of trouble he'd just put himself into. "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Gray, help, save me!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as he ran down the street, the snake hot on his heels.
"Stupid, rat, you're going the wrong way!" Boris shouted from behind the mouse.
"Oh yeah," Pierce said to himself and suddenly stopped and ran the opposite direction, sneaking past the snake and gaining a lead. Further down the street Pierce was suddenly pulled into one of the buildings by Boris.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Have you been hanging around Ace or something?" he shouted as he cocked his gun and aimed out the door. As soon as Micrurus appeared in their line of vision there was a storm of bullets as the Ones with duties and the Faceless shot the snake, blood spraying everywhere. The snake's body went rigid and suddenly dropped to the ground with a giant crash that none doubted could be heard all the way at the Castle of Hearts.
Blood, Elliot, and Gray were the first to emerge from their hiding places; the twins, Boris, and Gowland close behind. The twins, who had become adults as soon as the battle had really started, took their sickles and poked the dead body of the snake. "This is totally awesome brother!" Dee shouted over his shoulder as Blood and Elliot walked up beside them.
"Totally, brother," Dum agreed.
As the twins continued to chatter, Nightmare left where he'd been hiding in the church and came up to examine the snake. After a moment of staring at the reptile he suddenly spoke up, "Something's wrong, I don't know what, but something just doesn't feel right."
"Alice," Julius shouted into the red fog. Where was that infuriating woman? "Alice," he called again and listened.
"Over here," Julius turned to his left and began walking that way.
"Alice, I can't see you, keep talking. Tell me how you're doing, are you okay, are you hurt?" He shouted.
"No, I'm alright; I just really want to get out of here!" Alice shouted back.
"Just a few more steps," Julius told himself as he edged closer. Suddenly something flew at him, Julius didn't know what it was and had a split second to decide whether to shoot his gun or too relax. Taking a leap of faith, he stood his ground as the thing slammed into him. Hearing the sobs from the small thing made Julius realize that it was Alice, relieved, he wrapped his strong arms around her, enveloping her, his cheeks flaming bright red.
"Thank god you're okay!" He said as he pressed her head into his shoulder. Alice sobbed and gripped his coat tighter.
"You brainless, mushroom growing, stupid cynical son of a bitch!" Alice growled and pounded on his chest a couple of times. Julius merely let her beat on him until her sobs finally died down and her body slumped in exhaustion.
Julius rubbed her head, threading his fingers in her hair and whispered, "I'm going to get you out of here and take you home."
Alice pulled away to stare at him in confusion. "But… I don't want to go home!" She said with large teal eyes, "And besides," she added, "Blood made sure I drank every drop of that potion!"
Julius sighed and shook his head, suddenly becoming aware of how long he'd been holding the Outsider and released her, taking a step back to gain some distance to think clearly. "Do you remember what I told you when you first came here?" Alice gave him a look that clearly said to elaborate. "'You cannot go home alone', that is the rule." He said, giving her a knowing smile. "In other words, you can still go home but you will need help; a different kind than what interacting with the inhabitants of Wonderland can provide. If you allow, I can send you home and you will return to your world and your sisters."
Alice thought for a long moment, but before she could give her reply, she was cut off by high pitched screams. Julius reacted quickly; he shoved the Outsider away, causing her to trip over her own two feet and land on the surprisingly solid ground. The Mortician's gun appeared out of nowhere and shot three bullets at the source of the scream. The next scream that came was even more infuriated as Julius was suddenly shoved to the ground, the Snake Witch on top of him.
"Alice, run!" He grunted as he attempted to push the Snake Witch off of him. Alice scrambled to her feet but suddenly froze in horror as the snake witch bit the wrist of a hand that had been attempting to hit her, tearing the veins open and staining Julius's clothes and face with blood. Julius let out a shout of pain and hit the witch with his uninjured hand, stunning her long enough for him to push her over and pin her. "Run you stupid girl!" Julius shouted but was suddenly cut off when Micrurus's fist collided with his jaw and he was pushed away and the Witch leapt at him again.
Alice lunged forward to assist the Undertaker but before she could, a ghostly, cold hand grabbed her arm and pulled her away. "No! Julius!" Alice screamed and tried to pull away from the cold hands. The owner of the hands released a grunt and used his other arm to grab her around the waist and pull her further away from the danger.
"Alice, stop fighting me!" Nightmare pleaded as she struggled in his arms.
"But, Julius! We have to help him, she'll kill him!" She screamed desperately as Nightmare pulled her away from the scene. Alice cringed when she heard a choking sound, when she managed to move so that Nightmare was not obscuring her view, she gasped to find the witch chocking Julius.
"Alice, look at me." Nightmare said in such a serious tone that it immediately grabbed her attention. "The best way to help Julius now, is to get you home. Micrurus will be defeated if she has no source of power soon, and for her you are that power source. Julius is merely stalling. In the mean time we have to get you back to the door." Alice turned to look back at the blue haired man behind them. "Please Alice; this is the only way to help Julius."
Alice hesitantly nodded and allowed the incubus to lead her away toward the door.
The Role Holders gasped, several winced, as they looked into the large wall length mirror in Heart Castle and saw the fight between the Witch and Julius. Perhaps Blood had been wrong earlier. Julius Monrey, though clever and protective, was in truth, not much of a fighter. It was now painfully obvious in the Yakuza's eyes. It seemed clear that the Mortician was no match for the Witch and in need of help. It would not serve well to send the Knight of Hearts; with his sense of direction Alice and the Game Keepers would be dead before he even arrived.
Blood released a sigh; it was all up to him then.
He took a step back, no one reacted, their eyes remained glued to the mirror. He slowly walked away until he was at the door before breaking out into a full on run for the Clock Tower. When he arrived he felt instant sympathy for Ace. The Clock Tower may have only been one long, spiraling staircase, but there were dozens of doors; most of which were locked. Finally, the Hatter came across an open door with another, glowing door inside. He stepped into the room and opened the glowing door.
The Role Holders gasped, several winced, as they looked into the large wall length mirror in Heart Castle and saw the fight between the Witch and Julius. Perhaps Blood had been wrong earlier. Julius Monrey, though clever and protective, was in truth, not much of a fighter. It was now painfully obvious in the Yakuza's eyes. It seemed clear that the Mortician was no match for the Witch and in need of help. It would not serve well to send the Knight of Hearts; with his sense of direction Alice and the Game Keepers would be dead before he even arrived.
Blood released a sigh; it was all up to him then.
He took a step back, no one reacted, their eyes remained glued to the mirror. He slowly walked away until he was at the door before breaking out into a full on run for the Clock Tower. When he arrived he felt instant sympathy for Ace. The Clock Tower may have only been one long, spiraling staircase, but there were dozens of doors; most of which were locked. Finally, the Hatter came across an open door with another, glowing door inside. He stepped into the room and opened the glowing door.
Julius's vision was beginning to turn black from the pressure on his neck cutting off his air. Suddenly the Witch's hands were removed from his neck as she was tossed into the red fog. Julius gasped for air and rubbed the bruises on his neck.
"I thought you always had a back-up plan, Clockmaker." Blood Dupre said as he offered his hand to help him up.
"I don't know, I'm improvising here!" Julius said as he took the Yakuza's hand and stood. "What happened? I thought you took care of Micrurus!"
"Nightmare said that she 'escaped' or something before she was killed. She must have suspected something, I'm not sure, ask the worm."
"You bet I will." Julius growled and retrieved his gun from where it had landed and returned to the form of a wrench. The Mortician then turned to Nightmare and Alice who had not gotten very far. "Alice, get out of here!" He said and motioned in the direction of the door. "Nightmare, get your sorry butt over here and help us you Worm!" He shouted at the incubus.
"Didn't your mother tell you to stop calling me that?" Nightmare said as he left Alice to join his cousin and the Mafioso.
"So what? You're still a worm."
"Seriously? You're nearly thirty years old, how immature!" The Incubus grumbled as he joined the others.
"I think it suites you." Blood commented as his cane suddenly appeared and turned into his AK-47. The Yakuza turned around to face Alice, who had not moved since Julius had told him. "If you insist on remaining, stand back and stay out of danger!" Alice nodded hesitantly and stumbled back a few steps.
"Stand back to back around Alice," Julius ordered. As soon they were in position around the Outsider, Micrurus leapt out of the red fog, screaming and hissing. Blood released fire on the giant lizard. The bullets seemed to phase the Witch as she rushed at them. "Scatter!" Julius said and pushed Blood before grabbing Alice's wrist and dragging her away with him.
"Why are we running?" Alice panted as she struggled to keep up with the Clockmaker's long strides.
"A snake can't strike if its target keeps moving, a man however can." The blue haired man stopped suddenly and grabbed Alice's shoulders. "Stay here." He instructed and turned to return to the fight.
"No!" Alice shouted and grabbed the Mortician's sleeve. The Outsider and the Cynic blushed as their eyes met. Alice hastily released him but did not break eye contact. "If you do go, please be careful."
The Undertaker gave an uncharacteristic smile and cupped her cheek, "I know I'm not much of a fighter, but I'll certainly do my best, and then I'll get you home." He promised. Julius raced back, praying that Alice would listen to him and stay put, it was something she seemed to have a supreme amount of difficulty with.
Less than half a kilometer away from him Micrurus released a scream of anguish and suddenly the scenery changed to that of a forest with trees everywhere. As he continued to run everything began to go in and out of focus rapidly, the sounds of combat blending in his head and making him disoriented. He slowed to a stop, blinking several times and shaking his head to clear it. Slowly the world began tilting and spinning as he stumbled along. He tripped on a root and fell to his knees. The Clockmaker groaned and crawled to set his back against a tree, holding his stomach as pain filled it
He gave a sharp yell of pain and fell onto his side into a pile of leaves. They were damp with a musky smell, the cold was a relief to his heated skin but made his nose burn. The Clock Tower was normally in winter during the April Season so autumn was mostly an unusual sight for him. He gave a groan of pain and curled into a fetal position. His dark blue eyes watered as the pain spread, burning from his wrist and lava coursing through his veins. His body began to shake at the feel of being ripped apart from the inside out.
Julius raised his shaking hands to his face and stared at the bite mark on his hand. He'd been poisoned. Next would be hallucinations, nausea and possibly vomit, then his body would become sluggish and clumsy as it began to slow down, then finally it would completely shut down and he would collapse and remain as such until his heart gave its final beat.
It was the same way Micrurus had murdered his brother, and he had witnessed all of it. But that didn't matter now! But right now his first priority was to keep Alice safe and lying here would simply not do. Clutching to the bark of the lowest hanging branch he could reach, he pulled himself to his shaky legs. Staggering slightly, he continued towards the sounds of the small battle.
Each tree, no matter how much he attempted to convince himself otherwise, looked like it had a snake coiled around it, each poised to strike. Terror surged through him, even though he knew it was false, but his subconscious was in control right now. Taking a moment to regain his breath, the blue haired man grabbed his gun and took off for the fight.
Blood was holding his own against the snake and Nightmare was avoiding the attacks directed at him by floating just out of reach. Seeing that Julius had returned to them, Nightmare floated until he was right above Micrurus's head and dropped down to grasp her neck. The snake released a hiss of anger and grabbed the Hatter with her tail, his gun dropping from his hands.
"Your gun, hit her between the eyes!" Nightmare grunted. Julius raised the gun, his hands shaking and his vision blurry. His vision cleared and shifted, watching helplessly as the first Outsider, his brother, attacked the snake clutching at his quickly beating heart and making an attempt to finish her off. A sudden wave of nausea brought Julius to the ground, his gun slipping from his fingers as he landed on his stomach. Micrurus threw Blood off of her and tossed Nightmare away then approached him, ready to finish him off.
"This is the end." Julius thought as the snake suddenly approached.
Then an unexpected voice screamed at the top of her lungs, "Why won't this thing shoot?"
"The safety is still on!" Blood replied. "Move the clip on the left side, quickly!" Seconds later there was a loud bang and the snake fell five yards away from Julius and the Outsider. Alice gasped, her heart beating rapidly, and dropped the pistol then knelt to Julius's side, turning him onto his back and lifting his head.
"Alice," he choked and touched the young woman's cheek. "I have to get you," Alice cut him off quickly.
"Just shut up about that! Can't you see that you're hurt? How- How dare you worry about sending me home when you're hurt, you have quiet the nerve!" She shouted at him.
"I'm sorry; I broke my promise to you." He gasped as a jolt of pain came from his clock as its speeding slowly began to stop.
"No, you're not leaving me; you're not going to die!" Alice sobbed as tears came to her eyes and slowly traveled down her cheeks.
"Don't cry, I don't know what to do when you cry." Julius said with a soft smile. "I worry when you cry."
"Why?" Alice said, becoming momentarily distracted as Blood and Nightmare began to make their way toward them after ensuring that Micrurus was dead.
"I," The mortician paused for a moment. Was it really worth telling her? Was it time right? He'd certainly never imagined telling her, let alone actually doing it! But if he was dying, he might as well spit it out. "I love you." He admitted softly. If he were at full health, his face would have been bright red.
Alice glanced at Blood with a sad look. The Hatter nodded his head in acceptance, he'd known from the near beginning. The Yakuza was not one to give up easily, but in this case, it sounded easier than getting into a fight with the Outsider.
"I love you too." Alice admitted and kissed his forehead.
Julius sighed peacefully and looked to Nightmare, an imploring look on his face. "Take, her home." He said to his cousin and gave a final sigh as he passed out.
Alice began screaming, shaking the tall man by his jacket. Blood had to literally restrain her and hold her back as she sobbed. Nightmare stood sadly and touched Alice's forehead with his pointer finger. "Alice, wake up." He said. The world darkened and lights appeared, flashing brightly and rushing past her, then the world returned to black.
Alice's world began to shake as someone called her name. Hesitantly opening one eye, she found the face of her elder sister smiling down at her. Alice bolted up right and looked around herself.
"I'm back! I'm in my own world!" She mentally gasped.
"Alice, what's wrong?" Lorina said with concern.
"Julius is gone!" She gasped and broke down into a fit of sobs. "I'll never see him again!"
AN: Special thanks to a wonderful friend of mine for the help in killing off a character that she fell in love with in less than an hour. I'll see you guys again in chapter eleven!